Binder for papers, pamphlets, catalogs and similar articles



Sept. 29, 1959 R. c. LouDoIu v I 2,906,267

BINDER FOR PAPERS, PAMPHLETS, CATALOGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Filled May 18, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .ulllmlllllh .ll'lllllllun.

INVENTOR. ROBERT a LOUDO/V I (AM 01/ ATTORNEY BINDER FOR PAPERS, PAMPHLETS, CATALOGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES My invention relates to a binder for miscellaneous papers, pamphlets, magazines, catalogs, brochures and similar material. Reference is made to Patent No. 2,732,842, issued January 31, 1956.

All types of businesses receive during an interval of time a large quantity of miscellaneous papers, pamphlets, magazines, catalogs, and price lists which are not pro vided with heavy binder covers so that they may be stacked vertically or otherwise arranged in an easily stored manner for ready reference. The binders now available for storing such material and indexing it are relatively expensive and quite frequently because of the expense involved the company does not purchase binders for such material. The result is that the papers, pamphlets or catalogs are stored loosely and when reference to them is desired, a great amount of time is consumed in finding the desired material.

While large segments of the magazine purchasing public desire to retain, store and index magazines, no inexpensive binder is available on the market. Professional people such as accountants, lawyers, engineers and doctors in particular have a distinct problemin properly storing and indexing material or treatises on various subjects received in the mail gratuitously or ordered from a publishing house. For example, a lawyer during the course of a year may obtain a large number of pamphlets or treatises on various subjects such as taxes, antitrust laws, price control, labor regulations, and other subjects, the law of which is in a state of flux and rapidly changing. No convenient, inexpensive means is available at present to a lawyer to segregate the pamphlets and other material relating to a particular subject and store them in a separate indexed binder available for ready reference. The result is that the pamphlets are lost or stored in such confusion that the desired pamphlet is not readily available. Other types of publications, for example, mail order catalogs, telephone books, and classified advertising books are not furnished with hard, servicable covers due to the expense involved. Many large business firms maintain a library of telephone books for convenient reference which are eitherflloosely stored or considerable expense is incurred to provide suitable binders. Most of such binders require heavy metal elements at the inside back of the book for the reception and holding of the back of the telephone book or other catalog.

An object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive binder for the reception, storing and indexing of papers, pamphlets, brochures, magazines, catalogs and telephone books to the end that the binder may if desired be stored in an upright position and in an orderly fashion so that the contents are available for quick and easy reference.

More specifically my invention contemplates a binder made preferably of corrugated paper board which is scored to provide two covers and an integral back together with means for holding the covers together and at least partly retaining the material in the binder.

Patented'Sept. 29, 1959 My invention further contemplates a binder preferably of inexpensive corrugated paper board which may be shipped in a flat condition and which includes at least one pair of retainers attached to the upper or lower edges of the covers, said retainers being adapted to receive an interlocking device which bridges the gap between the covers and may be slid or shifted into and out of retaining or interlocking relationship with the retainers to enable the convenient opening and closing of the binder.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the binder of my invention with the retaining device released, the covers open and the binder lying substantially in a plane with the back of the binder resting on a supporting surface to receive material to be placed in the binder or representing essentially the condition in which the binder may be shipped;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the binder of my invention with the covers in superimposed relation in a position to receive the device which interlocks and bridges the gap between the covers and holds the covers together in spaced relation and showing the position of the parts just prior to interlocking the retaining device with the covers;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the second step in the operation of interlocking the covers;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the third step in interlocking the covers;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3 in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a partial view similar to Fig. 1 showing an alternate form of my invention;

Fig. 7 is a partial perspective view of the binder with the parts in position which they occupy just prior to interlocking the covers; I t

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 with the parts in the position they occupy just prior to the full cover interlocking position;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing still another alternate form of my invention;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of-the binder arranged with the covers in superimposed relation;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the ring locking member employed in connection with the binder shown in Figs. 9 and 10;

Fig. 12 is a view showing the locking ring of Fig. 11 arranged in one of the retaining devices of the binder of Figs. 9 and 10;

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 and being a top plan view of a portion of Fig. 10 showing the locking ring of Fig. ll in the interlocking position with relation to the covers; and

Fig. 14 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 14-14 of Fig. 13in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The binder of my invention is preferably made ofcorrugated paper board although other paper board or plastic impregnated paper stock may be employed. The major factor is to provide arelatively strong binder ofinexpensive material. Asshown in the drawings, double face single wall corrugated paper board is preferably employed with the corrugations extending in the longitudinal direction of the sheet as shown inFig. 1. The blank is divided into three sections by transverse score lines 16 to provide two covers 17 and an integral back 18.

As will be understood, the covers may be placed in superimposed relation as shown in Fig. 2 and miscellaneous papers, pamphlets, magazines, catalogs and other material maybe placed with their backs resting'o'n the 3 back 18 of the binder. For the purpose of holding the binder in the position of the parts shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, that is, with the covers in spaced relation, a retainer assembly is provided.

The retainer assembly comprises retainer elements 19 and 21 each of which is preferably made of sheet metal. Considering the retainer element 19, the sheet metal may be bent adjacent its central portion and riveted or otherwise secured to the cover as shown at 22. That is, the retainer element 19 is bent so as to provide two superimposed strips, one of which lies on the inside of the cover and the other of which lies on the outside thereof. The rivets then extend through the superimposed portions of the retainer element 19 and through the lower edge of the binder as viewed in Fig. 1.

In the process of bending the retainer member 19, a loop is provided adjacent the central part of the sheet of metal constituting the retainer element to provide an elongated sleeve like opening 20 to receive a bent piece of wire or relatively stiff rod 23, constituting a locking member. The loop is just off center with respect to the metal sheet so that when the retainer element is mounted on the cover the sleeve like opening and the entire loop lies on the inside of the cover.

The locking member 23 has a relatively elongated straight section 24 somewhat longer than the retainer element 19 which portion of the locking member is fitted into and is slidable in the sleeve like opening '20 in the retainer element. The locking member further has two right angle bent parts 26 and two right angle rebent parts 27 so that the locking member is substantially in the form of a rectangle except for an intervening gap 23 between the free ends of the wire or bent rod.

In Fig. l, I have shown the binder as provided with retainer elements 19 and 21 along the top edge thereof as viewed in that figure. The retainer element 19 at the top edge also has a locking member 23 similar to the lower locking member. However, this is optional since it is necessary to provide only one locking member with retainer elements 19 and 21 only along one edge, preferably the lower edge of the binder. Since the binder is symmetrical about a longitudinal center line, it is immaterial which longitudinal edge of the binder is considered the lower edge. For purposes of convenient illustration, in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 the locking device which may or may not be located at the top edge, will be described.

In locking the two covers 17 together to retain the covers in superimposed relation, the parts are first placed in the relationship shown in Fig. 2. The locking member 23 is then swung in the sleeve like opening 20 about the edge of the binder and shifted longitudinally in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 2 so that the end 29 of the wire is clear of the end 31 of the retainer element 21. To enable this result to be accomplished, the distance between the points 29 and 32 on the locking member 23 is made less than the distance between the points 33 and 34. The end 29 then may be inserted into the end 31 of the sleeve like opening 20 and the locking member 23 pushed in the direction indicated by the arrow B in Figs. 2 and 3.

The end 36 of the locking member then occupies a position adjacent the other end 37 of the sleeve like opening 20 formed in the retainer element 21. If desired and as shown in the drawings, the distance 3638 is made slightly greater than the distance 3334 so that in order to insert the end 36 of the locking member in the end 37 of the sleeve like opening 20, the locking member 23 must be manually slightly bent. With this arrangement the gap 28 (Fig. l) is slightly less than the length of the retainer element and the locking member cannot shift out of locking position unless the wire is forcibly bent. Since the binder is primarily intended to be used with the locking member in locking position at all times, it is immaterial that the locking member must be bent to assemble the binder since the operations shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are necessary only when the user sets up the binder for use.

In Fig. 3, I have shown the end 36 of the locking member 23 inserted in the end 37 of the sleeve like opening 20 in the retainer element 21. With the parts in this position, that is, the position shown in Fig. 3, the locking member may be shifted in the direction indicated by the arrow C in Fig. 4 to the locking position in which position the ends 29 and 36 of the locking member 23 are locked in the sleeve like opening 20 of the retainer element 21.

The locking member thus bridges the gap between the two covers and retains the two covers in spaced relation unless it is desired to open the binder to the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1. However, it is contemplated that the binder may be most conveniently used as a rigid assembly with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 4. That is, for example, a telephone book may he slipped into the binder and will normally be retained in this position either when the binder is standing upright on a supporting surface substantially as shown in Fig. 4 or is laid down with one of the covers lying on the supporting surface. When it is desired to consult the telephone directory, it is a simple matter to slip the directory out of the binder through the front opening thereof or through the upper opening if a locking member and retaining elements are employed on only the lower edge of the binder. However, as previously mentioned and as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a locking member and retaining elements may be employed both on the upper and lower edges of the binder in which case the directory would he slipped out of the front opening.

In its preferred form the binder is assembled by the user and the blanks are preferably shipped fiat in the condition shown in Fig. 1. When once assembled the binder is intended to be used assembled as shown in Fig. 4, it being understood that the primary objective of my invention is to produce an inexpensive binder to permit, for example, the assembly of related loose pamphlet material or related magazines together and enable their convenient indexing. Thus, for example, a single binder may contain one years issues of a monthly magazine and any particular issue may readily be located and withdrawn from the binder for reference.

The relative size of the covers and back is optional in accordance with the sizes of the pamphlets, papers, magazines or other materials which the user desires to bind. If, for example, the user desires to bind for future reference a years issues of a monthly magazine, the covers would be slightly larger in length and width than the corresponding dimensions of the magazine and the back 18 would be of sufiicient width to accommodate twelve issues. Thus the binder can be made up in a manner of standard sizes and the user can select the size best suited to accommodate the particular material he desires to bind.

The surface of the binder may be covered with a sheet of colored paper to present a more attractive appearance or the corrugated paper may be made in color if desired. The exterior of the back 18 may carry suitable legends or indexing indicia for the purpose of identification of the material stored within the binder.

In Figs. 6, 7 and 8, I have shown a modified form of my invention in which the retainer elements 19 and 21 are similar to the correspondingly numbered retainer elements 19 and 21 of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive. However, the locking member 41 is somewhat differently constructed. It may be formed of wire bent substantially in the form of a rectangle, the free ends 42 being spaced apart by a distance substantially less than the length of the retainer elements 19 and 21. When the covers are superimposed into the relationship of parts shown in Fig. 7, the wire locking member 41 is grasped and bent at points 43 so as to separate the free ends 42. The free ends 42 may be then lodged in the sleeve like opening 20 formed in the retaining member 21 as shown in Fig.

.8. In Fig. 7, I have shown the relationship of parts just prior to bending the locking member 41, while in Fig. 8, I have shown the position of the parts just prior to completing the return bending of the locking member to lodge the free ends of the locking member securely in the sleeve like opening 20 in the retaining member 21. The bridging part 45 may be bent, as shown, to allow, upon straightening the wire, for some expansion of the binder.

In Figs. to 14 inclusive, I have shown still another modified form of my invention in which the retaining members 46 are secured to the edges of the binder in a manner similar to the retaining members 19 and 21. However, the retaining members 46 are relatively narrow, that is, in a direction along the edge of the binder. They project inwardly from the edges of the binder a greater distance, as shown at 47, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 10 so that the sleeve like openings 48 are relatively large. That is, the sleeve like openings, instead of being substantially cylindrical as in the arrangements of the first two forms of my invention, are approximately rectangular in cross section.

The locking member for this form of the invention comprises a ring 49 having free ends 51. When the binder.

is to be assembled, one of the free ends 51 is inserted in one of the openings 48 and the ring turned so that the ring occupies approximately the position shown in Fig. 12. The covers then are brought into superimposed relation as shown in Fig. 13 and one of the free ends 51 of the ring inserted in the retaining member on the other cover. The ring is then further rotated to bring the locking member to the locking position shown in Fig. 13.

While I have shown and described the preferred forms of my invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A binder comprising, in combination, a binder having two transverse score lines to define a pair of covers and an intermediate integral back, a first retaining member secured to a longitudinal edge of one of the covers, said first retaining member having a sleeve-like through opening extending longitudinally with respect to said longitudinal edge of the cover, a second retaining member secured to the longitudinal edge of the other cover in a position such that when the covers are superimposed with respect to each other the retaining members are in opposed general relationship to each other, a locking member comprising a loop having an intermediate straight portion, bent portions and two free ends extending toward each other, the intermediate portion of said locking member being longer than and slidably extending through the through opening in said first retaining member, and said second retaining member having openings at opposite ends thereof for the reception of the free ends of the locking member.

2. A binder comprising, in combination, a binder blank having two transverse score lines to define a pair of covers and an intermediate integral back, a retaining member secured to a longitudinal edge of each of the covers, each said retaining member having a sleeve-like opening extending longitudinally with respect to said longitudinal edgeof the cover and each said retaining member being secured to the covers at the corresponding longitudinal edge so that when the covers are superimposed the retaining members are in opposed general relationship to each other and a locking member comprising a loop having an open portion providing free ends and having a length greater than that of said retaining members and being slidably engageable in said members.

3. A binder in accordance with claim 2 in which the locking member is in the form of a ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,746 Dusart Oct. 12, 1897 1,481,561 Ringer Jan. 22, 1924 2,318,890' Seelman May 11, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 123,339 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1927 471,192 Germany Feb. 7, 1929 

